After over a week of demonstrations in Oslo, a public warning came from the government to the reindeer herders at Fosen before the weekend. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre even said that it is a violation of human rights. At the beginning of May, another reindeer herding district further north will fight its battle in court. Then the Jillen-Njaarke reindeer herding district’s lawsuit against Øyfjellet Wind AS will go up in the Helgeland district court. – This is part of the land we will use for pasture and winter land. It is also a country that we use in early autumn and early spring. So with an industrial area, it goes without saying that it is not suitable as grazing land, says Torstein Appfjell. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news Leader Torstein Appfjell believes there are many similarities between the cases surrounding Øyfjellet and Fosen. – It is an area for wind power industry, it is a reindeer herding district. The proceedings have been quite similar, and it has been built and put into production before there has been a clarification as to whether the license is valid. 72 wind turbines The Energy Commission recently announced that Norway must build enormous amounts of renewable energy in the coming years, if we are to get enough power. One of the answers is wind power. But as the Fosen case has illustrated, it is no simple matter to decide where the turbines should be located. And more controversies may come. Reindeer herding takes place in 140 of the municipalities in the country, from large parts of Finnmark in the north to Engerdal in Hedmark in the south, on an area that makes up around 40 per cent of the land area in Norway. Norway’s Water Resources and Energy Directorate’s plan from 2019 points to areas they believe are suitable for developing wind power. Several of these areas overlap with reindeer grazing. At Øyfjellet in Vefsn municipality in Nordland, 72 wind turbines have been set up, and production is gradually underway. But the turbines prevent the reindeer in the area from getting to winter pasture on the coast. There has been reindeer herding on the site for generations. I think the state has gone wrong – The similarity between these two cases is the rights of indigenous peoples, and the safeguarding of one’s own rights to proper and good reindeer husbandry. So says Thomas Benson, lawyer in contract law and administrative law. The court case in May is a discretionary case where the main purpose is to determine compensation for the affected landowners and beneficiaries. The wind turbines on Øyfjellet will produce around 1,200 GWh annually, or 1.2 TWh, which corresponds to power for 75,000 households. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news As part of the appeal case, the reindeer herding district has stated that the concession is invalid. Therefore, the court must decide on that as well. Benson believes that the case about the wind power plant on Øyfjellet may follow the Fosen case. – Just like in the Fosen case, it could be a continuing human rights violation if someone comes up with any mitigating measures or possibly removes these windmills. He says that the state may have made a mistake here as well. – Someone has actually done it, I think. First of all, it should have been ensured that this case was dealt with through the legal system and no permission to build was given before the assessment of damages had been clarified, or the validity of the decision had been determined. – It has happened in both of these cases that permission has been given for development before a final decision has been taken by our supreme court, says Benson. Raudt: – Shouldn’t be allowed Geir Jørgensen in Raudt has himself demonstrated against the wind turbines on Øyfjellet. He fears that the outcome of the trial in May may resemble a new Fosen case. Geir Jørgensen in the Raudt party. Photo: Private – It is quite clear that the Fosen judgment has strengthened the legal basis for reindeer herders, also on Øyfjellet. In order to protect indigenous rights more closely, Raudt submitted a new proposal to the Storting this week. – It should not be allowed to initiate nature interventions in reindeer grazing areas until the reindeer husbandry’s legal position has been clarified, says Jørgensen. MDG is also excited about the outcome of the court case in May. MDG has long believed that the Øyfjell case must be reviewed again. Now the party also demands that wind power concessions, which are being processed now, must be reviewed more thoroughly. Arild Hermstad in MDG. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news – We are particularly concerned about Øyfjellet, which we have been concerned about since the Fosen judgment came down. That facility must be looked at in the light of the Fosen judgment. The government must do that without waiting for a court case. They have to do that on their own, says Arild Hermstad. The developers: – Big differences The developers themselves do not agree on the similarities between the cases. – We do not comment on the Fosen judgment in particular. But there are big differences between these cases, writes communications manager at Eolus Vind, Karin Wittsell Heydl, in an e-mail to news. She elaborates that the project in Fosen lies within winter grazing zones. The discussion about Øyfjellet, on the other hand, has been about moving reindeer to and from a demarcated winter grazing area that lies outside the project area. – The main winter grazing area for the reindeer husbandry district has not been touched. – It is important to find good solutions for the challenges the reindeer herding district sees, and we are working on that, but this is very different from the discussions around Fosen. She also writes that the alleged parallel to the cases has been refuted by the Oslo District Court in an interlocutory injunction case. – Can’t build, and then ask Reindeer in the Jillen-Njaarke reindeer herding district, Ole Henrik Kappfjell, fears that the existence of the operation is threatened. – To see that this was developed, and that it was so extensive. It hurts incredibly, says Kappfjell. The wind turbines prevent the reindeer in the area from getting to the winter pasture on the coast. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news – In the worst case, as in Fosen, it will take ten years in the legal system before a conclusion is reached about a violation of indigenous rights here as well. That is the brutal consequence. The most offensive thing, he believes, is that the construction has started before it has been clarified with the reindeer herding what kind of mitigating measures could have been taken, in consultation with the herd. – You cannot build first, and then ask afterwards how we can coexist with this. I think that’s the worst.
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Going to trial against wind power plants in Northern Norway – I think the case is similar to Fosen – news Nordland
